SPARTANBURG – A stellar Furman football season hit a wall Saturday and ended in the second round of the FCS playoffs.

That wall was the Wofford defense, which limited the Paladins to a season-low in rushing on the way to a 28-10 decision for the Terriers at Gibbs Stadium.

Wofford (10-2) advances to the quarterfinals to play North Dakota State next weekend.

Furman finishes 8-5, with its most wins since 2013.

“Credit Wofford,” said Furman head coach Clay Hendrix. “They were clearly better than us today.”

Furman came in to the game ranking 10th in the FCS in rushing offense, averaging 240 yards a game, but managed only 52 Saturday. Furman finished with 309 yards of total offense, also a season low.

Furman went ahead 10-7 with 6 minutes, 52 seconds left in the second period on P.J. Blazejowski’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Logan McCarter. From that point until Wofford went up 28-10 with 5:59 left in the game, Furman generated just two first downs — one of them via a Wofford penalty.

“They’ve got seven big bodies up front,” Hendrix said of the Wofford defense that committed to stop the run.

A sequence symbolic of the day came late when Furman, down 18, had driven to the Wofford 2-yard line. Furman didn’t score.

“I think the end of the game kind of sums it up,” said Hendrix. “We can’t punch that one in there.”

Two crucial plays occurred in succession in the first quarter with Furman down 7-0. Tight end Jake Walker couldn’t bring down a pass in the end zone, and on the next play, Wofford’s Dominique Lemon blocked Grayson Atkins’ 22-yard field goal attempt.

Wofford notched a touchdown in each quarter, but the one in the second may have been the biggest. Down 10-7, Terriers quarterback Brandon Goodson completed three passes, the last a 33-yard scoring play to halfback Blake Morgan with 45 seconds left before halftime. Wofford went into the break leading 14-10.

Despite the loss, Blazejowski — one of the few seniors on this Paladins team — saw great progress from the season-opening loss at Wofford on Sept. 2.

“I’m excited for a lot of the young guys to take control of this offseason and get ready to go,” said Blazejowski. “I think they’re going to do really great things, especially under the leadership of Coach Hendrix and the rest of the staff. I think there are bright things ahead.”

“It’s been a massive improvement,” said junior linebacker Joe Farrar, who is one of 21 players expected back from Furman’s two-deep depth chart on defense. “This year was unbelievable. Coaches do a great job of keeping us on task. I’m excited to see what the future holds.”

Blazejowski passed for 257 yards in the game. Wofford halfback Lennox McAfee led all rushers with 98 yards. Former St. Joseph’s Catholic School star Andre Stoddard added 64 yards rushing on 17 carries for Wofford.

The Terriers were 9-of-14 on third-down conversions while Furman was just 4-of-14 on third down and 1-of-4 on fourth down.